TonH
06-07-07, 23:16
Hotel for pious Turks
Growing sector offers devout Muslims environment tailored to their beliefs
http://www.ekathimerini.com/kathnews/photos/06-07-07/06-07-07_85346_1.gif
Reuters
A model presents a head-to-heel, long-sleeved swimsuit known as a ‘hasemas’ in this file photo. A new hotel on the Mediterranean coast is part of a growing sector catering for pious wealthy Muslims.
ALANYA (Reuters) – By day the Turkish women strip down to bikinis and belly-dance by the swimming pool. But at night they swathe their new suntans in headscarves and join their menfolk for dinner.
The Bera Alanya is a five-star hotel on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast where men and women have separate swimming pools and alcohol is not served – but female customers enjoy freedoms they often do not find in the public sector.
The hotel is part of a growing sector in Turkey that caters for devout wealthy Muslims who want to enjoy the beach without compromising their beliefs – a conservative social class whose support will be key for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at elections this month.
Women feel more comfortable here wearing their head-to-heel, long-sleeved baggy swimsuits known as hasemas, which on many Turkish beaches still provoke stares.
“Before we couldn’t go to the beach comfortably because we don’t wear swimsuits...We’d look for empty beaches,” guest Gamine Oduncu, a 38-year-old mother of two, told Reuters.
“You can wear a hasema but (on a regular beach) you draw a lot of attention to yourself...Here everyone looks the same.” Many of the guests are likely to vote for the religiously conservative but reform-minded AKP in the July 22 election and are part of a constituency that has growing influence.
Many left the more conservative provinces for the big cities to study and make money, but held on to their religious ways.
The issue of religious freedom in secular but Muslim Turkey is set to play an important role in the election. It has already caused deep divisions as the country of more than 70 million people, where Muslim headscarves are banned from universities, public offices and parliament, tries to join the European Union.
A row of wooden planks seals off the hotel’s beach from the next one, where European tourists tan or turn pink in the Mediterranean sun. But when a tanga-clad foreigner crosses the line, no one on this side seems to bat an eyelid.
Another guest is Esra, a 21-year-old student at a private university in Istanbul. She stopped wearing swimsuits in public when she was 13 under pressure from her father, a hotel owner who left the conservative southeast for Istanbul 15 years ago.
“Here it’s more comfortable for my family and more comfortable for me,” she said.
Some secularists in Turkey object to these hotels on the grounds they are exclusive and harm Turkey’s tourist image.
The powerful secular establishment, including army generals and judges, fears another election triumph for the AKP will threaten modern Turkey’s secular values.
The AKP has accused opposition parties of using scare tactics and falsely portraying it as Islamist-minded.
Behind the success of hotels such as Bera Alanya is an economic boom from which many religiously conservative Turks have greatly benefited. Islamic banks have also seen a boom.
A study by Resort magazine, published by the Mediterranean Hoteliers Association, shows there are 27 hotels like this one on the coast. Most of them have opened since 2004.
The head of Bera Alanya – which also welcomes uncovered women – has been quoted as saying 10 more hotels are planned.
Owners Kombassan Holding declined to speak to Reuters.
“There’s demand for it. Every day people find new needs, set new goals they want to reach,” said Turgut Al, an Istanbul factory owner.
“Development is increasing, incomes are increasing... The sector is going to keep growing,” he said as he joked with his wife about going to the beach next door to check out the European approach to swimwear.
Many guests rejected the fears of Turkey’s secularists, saying the AKP has not taken any steps to increase the profile or role of religion in public life.
Although they are not all AKP supporters, many hope that a second term in office – which polls show is likely – will bring reforms to make life easier for devout Muslim Turks.
The AKP tried to ease a headscarf ban after coming to power in 2002, but ditched it amid secularist pressure.
Kathimerini, 6/7/07
Growing sector offers devout Muslims environment tailored to their beliefs
http://www.ekathimerini.com/kathnews/photos/06-07-07/06-07-07_85346_1.gif
Reuters
A model presents a head-to-heel, long-sleeved swimsuit known as a ‘hasemas’ in this file photo. A new hotel on the Mediterranean coast is part of a growing sector catering for pious wealthy Muslims.
ALANYA (Reuters) – By day the Turkish women strip down to bikinis and belly-dance by the swimming pool. But at night they swathe their new suntans in headscarves and join their menfolk for dinner.
The Bera Alanya is a five-star hotel on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast where men and women have separate swimming pools and alcohol is not served – but female customers enjoy freedoms they often do not find in the public sector.
The hotel is part of a growing sector in Turkey that caters for devout wealthy Muslims who want to enjoy the beach without compromising their beliefs – a conservative social class whose support will be key for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) at elections this month.
Women feel more comfortable here wearing their head-to-heel, long-sleeved baggy swimsuits known as hasemas, which on many Turkish beaches still provoke stares.
“Before we couldn’t go to the beach comfortably because we don’t wear swimsuits...We’d look for empty beaches,” guest Gamine Oduncu, a 38-year-old mother of two, told Reuters.
“You can wear a hasema but (on a regular beach) you draw a lot of attention to yourself...Here everyone looks the same.” Many of the guests are likely to vote for the religiously conservative but reform-minded AKP in the July 22 election and are part of a constituency that has growing influence.
Many left the more conservative provinces for the big cities to study and make money, but held on to their religious ways.
The issue of religious freedom in secular but Muslim Turkey is set to play an important role in the election. It has already caused deep divisions as the country of more than 70 million people, where Muslim headscarves are banned from universities, public offices and parliament, tries to join the European Union.
A row of wooden planks seals off the hotel’s beach from the next one, where European tourists tan or turn pink in the Mediterranean sun. But when a tanga-clad foreigner crosses the line, no one on this side seems to bat an eyelid.
Another guest is Esra, a 21-year-old student at a private university in Istanbul. She stopped wearing swimsuits in public when she was 13 under pressure from her father, a hotel owner who left the conservative southeast for Istanbul 15 years ago.
“Here it’s more comfortable for my family and more comfortable for me,” she said.
Some secularists in Turkey object to these hotels on the grounds they are exclusive and harm Turkey’s tourist image.
The powerful secular establishment, including army generals and judges, fears another election triumph for the AKP will threaten modern Turkey’s secular values.
The AKP has accused opposition parties of using scare tactics and falsely portraying it as Islamist-minded.
Behind the success of hotels such as Bera Alanya is an economic boom from which many religiously conservative Turks have greatly benefited. Islamic banks have also seen a boom.
A study by Resort magazine, published by the Mediterranean Hoteliers Association, shows there are 27 hotels like this one on the coast. Most of them have opened since 2004.
The head of Bera Alanya – which also welcomes uncovered women – has been quoted as saying 10 more hotels are planned.
Owners Kombassan Holding declined to speak to Reuters.
“There’s demand for it. Every day people find new needs, set new goals they want to reach,” said Turgut Al, an Istanbul factory owner.
“Development is increasing, incomes are increasing... The sector is going to keep growing,” he said as he joked with his wife about going to the beach next door to check out the European approach to swimwear.
Many guests rejected the fears of Turkey’s secularists, saying the AKP has not taken any steps to increase the profile or role of religion in public life.
Although they are not all AKP supporters, many hope that a second term in office – which polls show is likely – will bring reforms to make life easier for devout Muslim Turks.
The AKP tried to ease a headscarf ban after coming to power in 2002, but ditched it amid secularist pressure.
Kathimerini, 6/7/07